Leo Caraway - high school senior, president of the Young Republicans club, 4.0 GPA, future Harvard student - had his entire future perfectly planned out. That was, until the X factor. As in Marion X. McMurphy, aka King Maggot, the lead singer of Purge, the most popular, most destructive band punk rock has ever seen. He's also Leo's biological father.
When Leo discovers that his real father is a punk rock legend, he is disgusted. Not only is Leo not a punk rock fan, but he believes the X factor (the Maggot blood that is running through his veins) is a dangerous time bomb just waiting to explode.
And sure enough, it does - Leo stubbornly defends the unlikeliest of people, thereby getting himself falsely accused of cheating on a test. Because of the blemish on his record, the once star pupil finds his scholarship to Harvard taken away. So he hatches the crazy plan of going on tour with King Maggot for Purge's summer revival tour, all the while secretly hoping to convince Maggot to pay for his tuition.
But life on the road is even crazier than Leo ever bargained for, and before the summer is out, he will finally discover the surprising truth about his dad, his friends, and most important, himself.
GORDON KORMAN has written many books for middle-grade and young adult readers, including the phenomenally successful Island, Everest and Dive trilogies and, of course, the ever-popular Macdonald Hall series. His recent YA hits include Son of the Mob and Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle, as well as Jake, Reinvented, a retelling of The Great Gatsby set in a suburban high school. His latest adventure series, On the Run, is about a fugitive brother and sister seeking to clear their parents' name.